Hello folks, Thanks for the concern, yeah I lived on the other side of Alberta from where the fires were, so all is well with myself and my family. I did however move to Toronto a couple weeks ago for work, so once I am settled in I can start participating actively again!

*Tinkers away on his F-86 Sabre while whistling innocently.* To be honest, I hadn't given much thought to jets as it mostly falls outside of the Wesworld timeframe. I have the US flying P-80s, working on the F-86 with an expected entry into service in 1950, and the Navy getting the FJ-1 Fury. Aside from that, props will remain to bolster the numbers for awhile.

Nice plane this. A bit faster than the P-80 the USAF is standardizing on, but the P-80 is still comparable. It should have little problem catching the B-29/B-32 that the USAF has, not that it is likely to need too, more saying that for comparitive purposes. The B-36 might prove a different proposition.

I thought it funny? And you said I was missed. I made this thread originally with a serious thought in mind, and a question I wondered about. How strong is the US in Wesworld? The general consensus has been that it is weaker than IOTL, but still a Power to be respected. That is something I agree with though it is isn't well detailed how that came about, and I honestly don't know how to have it come about. Perhaps to make things clearer, the US was considered a sleeping giant for much of the earl...

Of course it is Bruce. TheCanadian, I think your assumptions are incorrect. In Wesworld, while the United States isn't the superpower it was IOTL, it remains a Great Power. Much of its fleet is old, but so are many others. I consider it not the preminent economic power, but likely first among equals. It has a reasonable chance of victory in a foreign war, and at worst would fight to a draw. Yes, I was trolling. The other stuff that is. I haven't taken leave of my senses.

That is the official war plan for the USN. Follows War Plan Orange from OTL which was an attack through the Mandates to relieve the Philippines. IOTL the Americans could assume parity with the IJN with regards to the PacFLT and numerical superiority once the ALTFLT arrives. Here, the USN is essentially at parity with the IJN once the ALTFLT arrives. Also, unlike OTL I cannot build a second fleet once the peacetime fleet is destroyed.

Alright then here is my hypothetical war between the US and Japan. The US Pacific Fleets sorties and gets smashed by the IJN as the PacFLT is outnumbered 2-1. US loses Hawaii. The ATL fleet sails through the canal and gets smashed by the IJN. Japanese land in California, US sues for peace. That isn't a Great Power performance.

This argument is turning ridiculous. I am saying the US is weaker relatively speaking than the UK, France, Russia, Germany, Atlantis, Japan and the other Great Powers where you see a parity that I do not. Look at the availability of US controlled bases and logistical support ships. The US is quite powerful in its own backyard, beyond that its ability to project power outside of the Atlantic, Carribbean and Pacific seaboards is quite limited and it can only be at parity with the available naval f...

The upgrades to every capital ship built prior to the Montanas were made by previous players. It isn't what I would have necessarily done, nor would I have built the Montanas. That being said, the tonnage invested into them I can't recoup so I might as well finish them. Shedding the Great War era ships leaves me with the Montanas and nothing else, so the 21 knoters stay. USS Texas and the old monitors will be heading to the breakers though now that their lifetime is up.

Actuallly it was this conversation that made me think that. In OTL the growth between the peak peacetime fleet and the wartime fleet was substantial. Here in Wesworld, that ceiling is quite a bit lower. My thought was that instead of having that rapid investment in the US Navy that occurred between 1940-45, the US had instead invested in a larger army and air force to counter the Iberian Army and Air Force that was not present IOTL. This instead has been shot down. A Great Power by my definition...

The USN is using most of its fleet on coastal defence, the Montanas being the core of its brown water fleet, with the aircraft carriers to support land based air to counter an expected invasion. The USN has no blue water capability. Therefore not a Great Power.

The current US fleet strength is a paper tiger for the most part. Old, slow and obsolete ships filling the gaps which are large indeed. Weakest carrier strength, weakest battleline strength, small number of large cruisers, not enough submarines, and a large number of destroyers. Amphibious capabilitied are lacking as are logistical. Realistically the USN would be hard pressed to stave off a second tier power never mind one of the Great Powers.

Something that I have been wondering about for some time is the ecomonic and potential military strength of the United States in Wesworld relative to the other WW Powers and its OTL self. I have worked on the assumption that while the US has the highest GDP, and is the strongest economically speaking it does not hold the preponderance it did IOTL, as that is the only explanation that makes sense. How that translates into military power has been like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole a...

The question to ask really is how many will be laid down in FY1946. Oh there is some tweaking to be done, I just dislike/haven't done ship sims like this so I throw it out there and adjust based on the feedback.